Love this club

Osieck calm regarding Middlesbrough's McDonald

Australian national team coach Holger Osieck admits he is calm in regards to the poor scoring record of striker Scott McDonald.
The German tactician is likely to hand the Middlesbrough talisman a start in tomorrow morning's friendly with Egypt in Cairo following the withdrawal of Josh Kennedy and Harry Kewell and despite McDonald not troubling the scorers in 19 internationals, Osieck is not too perturbed.

"The predicament is that a striker always get measured by the number of goals he has scored," Osieck said.

"That is fair enough, but that is for the public. As a coach I want him to score, no doubt about it, but I look at how he completes what I ask of him tactically."

McDonald has been prolific at club level in recent seasons, scoring 50 goals in 88 league matches with Scottish giants Celtic after making his name at Motherwell.

However, since his switch to the English Championship, the 27-year old has struggled with injuries and form so will be looking to make an impact in the national team colours on Thursday morning.